Never Again
by Syluk
Summary: Ace failed to intercept Akainu's attack and Luffy was killed during the War of the Best. Two years later, the still-grieving Straw Hats regathered to visit their captain's grave, but once there, instead of bidding a final farewell, they found an injured young man with a straw hat on his head.
1. Chapter 1

This idea was bothering me for over two years now. Why am I starting a new story when I have so many already waiting to be updated? Well, there is an announcement on my profile that can explain that.

English is not my first language, but **this was proofread by SarahPrincess and 9001668**!

* * *

**Never Again**

* * *

It hurt. The burn. It had been years since the last time Ace felt this kind of pain.

"Just your blood alone is a sin you could never dream to eradicate! Even if I let someone else escape today, I will never let the two of you go!"

He almost laughed as he watched the said sinful blood seep through his raw flesh and trickle down his arm across the charred skin like a spring through the canyons.

"…Take a good look."

Ace's head snapped up. Panic sent his mind and heart into overdrive when he realized that Akainu had suddenly decided to change targets and already lunged towards Luffy. His little brother. His lovable, brave, _exhausted_ little brother.

"Hey! Wait!" Ace screamed, scrambling to his feet. He still had time. If he used his flames to propel himself, he had time to jump in between them, to take that hit with his body, to protect Luffy.

Ace heaved his injured body up, planting his feet firmly on the paved ground. He paid no attention to the small puddle of his own blood and it cost him everything.

He slipped.

The scent of burning rubber filled the air—strong and rancid stench, more potent than anything he had ever smelled before.

Ace slipped and let the incandescent magma fist pierce through his little brother's chest, exiting grotesquely on the other side.

Ace slipped and Monkey D. Luffy, the infamous captain Straw Hat of the Straw Hats Pirates, died.

Ace slipped on his own blood, tainted with inherited sin, and this time, for Luffy, there was no final smile. Even as a young carrier of the Will of D.

And the world came to a halt.

It stood still when people rejoiced and marines celebrated. It stood still while the Straw Hats wept. It continued standing still when they all furiously immersed themselves in training, ice-cold chains of guilt and shame and grief coiling around their hearts, biting and tearing into their very souls, whispering, reminding over and over again how they failed and how they would keep failing if they were not strong enough.

Luffy—their nakama, their captain, their guiding light, their _sun_—would have wanted them to keep going, so the Straw Hats tried moving forward.

But the world stood still and they with it.

Until two years later Robin tracked each of them down and sent a message.

'_It's time._'

* * *

**-somewhere on the Grand Line near the undisclosed island-**

Ace stared at the Thousand Sunny, gently swaying in the shallow waters of the island's bay where she dropped her anchor. Waves lapped against her hull, strong and solid. Warm browns and bright reds complementing one another, together with a sun-like lion's figurehead created an image of a homey vessel. No one could tell just how much bite she hid under that harmless facade.

Unknowingly, the corner of Ace's mouth quirked up into a proud smirk.

Just like Luffy himself. A carefree, food-loving, funny guy who could split mountains with a single punch.

The smile was instantaneously vanquished.

And who died because he slipped.

A hand landed on Ace's shoulder and he turned his head to meet Sabo's sad eyes. The eyes that mirrored the anguish and hollowness festering inside him. He looked back at the flamboyant ship of their little brother, quickly shrinking into the distance as their own ship sailed away. His gaze drifted past it and onto the cliff, overlooking the bay.

They could still see the wooden cross on top of it with a straw hat tied around it, dangling in the wind.

"I'm sorry, Sabo," Ace muttered the words the blond already heard who knows how many times. "I couldn't protect our little brother."

"Ace." Sabo's voice was tight. As was his grip on his brother's shoulder. "I wasn't even _there_." And with this simple statement, he shouldered all the blame in a single breath. Again.

Ace already lost count of the numerous times he did that. But it wasn't Sabo who slipped and stumbled at that crucial moment. It was him.

Just another sin absorbed deep into his blood.

* * *

Nami leaned against the railing on the observation deck above the galley. The sea breeze played with her long orange hair while she listened to the ever-rushing, soughing waves of the ocean and the soft drizzling sound of Robin's watering can behind her.

It was such a pleasant, tranquil day. The sky held a soft blue glow with pristine white clouds scattered across the encompassing horizon to enchant its brilliance. Heaven-bound seagulls rode warm air currents like bright rays amid otherwise infinite cerulean, gliding as free souls, unconcerned by the struggles of those beneath them.

A stark contrast to the bleak and mournful atmosphere of the Thousand Sunny. It made her angry, outright furious. How dare those birds be so unfettered and the day be so beautiful when Luffy was—

Nami's eyelids shut out the world before her, all of its history alongside it. As if it would help assist her escape, the bones to her jaw clenched tighter, momentarily clipping her inner cheek. She did not dare to voice those dreadful words even in the privacy of her own mind.

From her spot, the navigator could see the rest of the crew busy themselves with their own activities, willing their time away, and occupying themselves in a vain effort not to think about the fundamental issue. Just like her.

Zoro was hefting weights in the middle of the lawn deck, murmuring numbers under his breath. From time to time he would trail off and scowl in thought, his workout also coming to a brief halt. After a moment, he always caught himself, clicked his tongue, and started counting from the beginning again.

Not far from the swordsman, Chopper sat in the grass, grinding the sun-dried herbs. Occasionally, grief-stricken tears started dripping from his eyes, dropping into the grinder and wetting his medicine. The little reindeer would rub his furry face and then continue pushing the grinder back and forth, a bit more fervently than before.

Usopp and Franky set up the little joint workshop at the front of the ship, tinkering with their new inventions and discussing meager trivialities amongst themselves in booming voices, blanketing buried insecurities with a feigned openness, diverting each other's mind to the superficial flow of the hands rather than the jagged emotions.

Brook was standing not far with a filled teacup resting motionlessly in his bony hand, empty eye sockets gazing at the lush island. Skeletons didn't have faces to display their emotions, but being such a lively social butterfly, Brook learned to be very expressive and dramatic to substitute for what he lacked in facial expressions. It was strange and eerie to see him lifeless and quiet like this.

The Straw Hats were stalling. They all realized that. Every single pirate was fiddling time away by doing this and that halfheartedly, putting off the inevitable and emotionally draining journey to the island, through the forest, and up the cliff to bid their final goodbyes for as long as possible.

It had been two days since Ace and Sabo led the Straw Hats here. They managed to get themselves some more time to conciliate with the death of their captain, yet two years and two extra days were far from enough to fully believe that this nightmare wasn't a fabrication, to even start to patch up that deep, harrowing, still-raw, still-bleeding wound in their hearts and souls Luffy's departure left behind.

None of them wanted to step up into the position that rightfully belonged to Luffy; there was no one in the crew who had even a _single _thought about doing it. It wasn't just because the enormous empty void that their captain's absence created would have swallowed whoever tried, but because the Straw Hats would never stand following someone else.

Captainless pirate crew—such an unheard and absurd thing. Good news that the Straw Hats were good at achieving ridiculous feats.

It was a sheer miracle that Luffy somehow collected such an assortment of people, people who were betrayed and hurt to the very core of their being time and time again, people who neither trusted nor believed in anyone. But that radiant rubber ball of excitement and strength, bursting with liquid sunshine and hope from within, effortlessly found his way through their walls and defenses and into their hearts.

Nakama, he insisted. Follow your dream, he urged. Live on, he demanded.

And they did; happily so. Simply because Luffy was a force of nature that no one was able to resist in the end.

He would have wanted his crew to move forward, keep following their dreams, and to live on.

But how could they when they were so utterly lost? They were stranded in obscure darkness without their guiding ray of light to show them the way and without the river that kept them floating and enticing them to continue forward with their heads held high. They were without the pillar that made them stand up again and again, no matter how many times their adversaries forced them to their knees. No one wanted to admit that they felt adrift and disoriented like boats doomed to crash into rocks and break into smithereens without the guidance of their lighthouse.

Nami's furrowed brows deepened as her mind continued to run an endless stream of murky thoughts with no conclusions that could possibly uplift. She heaved a tired sigh as she pushed herself from the railing.

"Nami-san! Robin-chan!"

Sanji's dry voice reached her ears and Nami twisted to see the cook climbing out of the hatch with a tray of drinks balanced delicately on one of his hands.

"It seems today will be as hot as yesterday," a meaningless observation passed the blond's lips, as he held a glass of chilled lemonade to their archeologist without any exaggerated flourish. His usual flirtatious manner was practically dead with the weight of the past couple days. "I thought you lovely ladies will appreciate something cold to drink."

Nami shook her head when Sanji turned to her. "It'll have to wait," she said. "We should…" She hesitated. Were she to speak and finalize what needed to be done, it would all become so _real_; that unavoidable, pathetically inconvenient truth would be faced and damn her faded soul but if not, the Straw Hats were destined to fall apart completely. Luffy wouldn't have wanted that. "It's…" And yet her throat constricted and she couldn't force herself to actually say it.

"It's time," Sanji finished for her, the words flowing out with a weathered softness, smooth with tiredness coming from what felt like thousands of years of heartache. "Time to say our final goodbyes."

Nami could feel the pressure welling behind her eyes, praying for release. It was harder to keep her composure now that these words were finally out in the open, hanging above their heads like an executioner's blade. She gave a weak nod, first tears rolling down as she blinked.

A gentle touch landed on her shoulder and she allowed Robin to coax her into a comforting hug; a minor action to plant a crumbling mind on steady ground.

Sanji took a drag of his cigarette as he watched Nami silently crying in Robin's arms before stepping closer to the railing from where he could see the rest of the crew. "Guys," he called out, getting everyone's attention. "It's time."

The already solemn atmosphere on the Thousand Sunny grew even heavier. Everyone immediately understood what the cook was saying.

It provided no solace nor helped to accept the fact that it was time to bid a final farewell to their captain. But Luffy was never coming back to them and they needed to face this new reality.

* * *

The trip to Luffy's final resting place was utterly silent. No one spoke, afraid to disturb this void of speech and create ripples in their stagnant thoughts.

Slowly, the pirates made their way through the sea of trees and reached its edge.

A smooth, green meadow of soft sun-warmed grass was dotted by petite daisies and a crowd of poppies, scarlet in the sunshine, waving and rustling in the breeze. It stretched in front of them, framed by the luminous blue sky, and went up and beyond the small hill.

The Straw Hats' steps slowed down in unison. Once they ascended this hill, they would be able to see the grave. They were unconsciously stalling again.

Nami came to an abrupt halt as soon as she fully left the shadows of the trees. Nothing seemed amiss, but her hair stood on end and all kinds of alarm bells were going off in her head; every instinct screaming. "Wait!" she cried out, the feeling of foreboding was making her stomach flip.

The crew paused and turned to her with confused expressions, waiting for an explanation. But Nami was busy trying to figure out what kind of calamity was heading their way; explaining that to her nakama was the least of her problems.

The wind started to pick up and the navigator knew that it had changed directions at least a few dozen times in the past minute. The pressure was either rapidly dropping or rising which made no sense and was abnormal even for the Grand Line. Maybe not so much for the New World, but the weather in Paradise was supposed to be much more stable. Especially when Ace assured that this island's climate was particularly mild.

"What the hell is _that_?!"

Everyone started at Usopp's alarmed shout. They followed his index finger to look at the sky and instantly their faces morphed into pure shock and terror.

Except for Brook, of course. "Oh my…" the skeleton whispered as they observed the sky _cracking_ before their very eyes.

The fracture was small at first with white-purple light spilling out through the jagged edges. Gradually, the cracking accelerated, branching like a spider's web farther and farther until it covered the major part of the dome.

A gust of wind blew straight into the pirates' faces, carrying a rancid taste of ash along with a putrid stench of blood and burning rubber.

Next moment, the sky imploded into a blinding flash, followed by a shockwave strong enough to flatten the forest soon after.

Franky stomped his feet into the ground for better balance and scooped the wailing Usopp and Chopper into his arms to keep them safe. He also snatched their screaming musician out of the air when the blast hurled his mere bones backward.

Nami squealed and Sanji gritted his teeth, shielding his eyes from the enormous gale assaulting them. "Nami-san!" he cried out, anxious to get to her, but unable to take even a single step without being blown away.

Several arms sprouted all around him and the navigator, winding around their limbs and waists to keep them anchored.

Zoro drew one of his swords in a blink of an eye and plunged it into the soil to maintain his position. His Observation Haki was trained like a hawk in case someone decided to sneak up on the crew while they were nailed down like this. He angled his free arm around his head in order to protect his unmarred eye so that he could observe the surroundings just in case.

Because of that, Zoro was the only one who noticed the crack spitting something out—or rather someone?—and that something plummeted down at high speed. He squinted, but the air currents were too strong, too rough to discern its actual identity before Zoro lost sight of it due to the hill blocking his view. He could swear he felt the terrain shake slightly beneath his feet, but before he could wrap his mind around it, the wind ceased.

Usopp, Chopper, Brook, and Nami collapsed on the ground, relief turning their bones into useless jelly.

"Ah, I thought I was going to die," the skeleton exhaled. "Even though I'm already dead. Yohohoho!"

"Thanks, Robin…" Nami muttered breathlessly. "You saved me there."

"You're welcome," the archeologist replied coolly, emerging unscathed and not even ruffled. How she managed that was beyond anyone.

"Aaaaaaah…" Usopp and Chopper moaned together, tension withering now that they were comfortably lying on their backs in the grass. "Thanks, Franky!"

"Aow!" The cyborg struck a pose. "Good to be of help!"

Sanji pulled a new cigarette and lit it up as he walked to stand next to the swordsman who was still in alert mode, body tense, intense stare fixed straight forward. "What is it?" he asked.

Zoro furrowed his brow. "I saw—"

The sound of laughter that resonated from the other side of the hill cut him off and made the pirates stiffen. The bright and cheerful sound blossomed upon the now settled field, filling the air with fresh energy and unbridled happiness. The laughter that one could hear from miles away, that meant the world and beyond to this group.

They shared a wide-eyed glance. The realization that they all had heard it, that it wasn't just a figment of their imagination, caused hope to soar as never before.

And then they were all moving, those who were down pushing themselves to their feet, stumbling, running, rushing to the top of the hill.

Dust swirled lazily around the ruined field, scattered with upturned grass and unearthed rocks. The wooden cross survived whatever force laid waste to this area, standing tall in the middle of the destruction.

"Owowowow… It hurts to laugh."

Luffy's straw hat that had previously been tied to it now covered the young man's head, shadowing his face. He was sitting on the ground, resting his back against the cross, barefoot, clothes torn to tatters, burned in some places and bloodstained in others.

The moment the Straw Hats saw this person, they forgot how to breathe.

"That surprised me, but I'm alive!" the stranger cheered. "Shishishishi, I wonder how…" A subtle wince interrupted his quiet chuckles and he groaned, putting his arm around his abdomen in what seemed an attempt to stave off the pain. After a moment, he let out a soft sigh. "Eh, I guess it doesn't really matter."

Tears gathered in some of the pirates' eyes. Not of grief this time, but ones of happiness.

"Hm? What's this?" The man picked a straw hat from his head, revealing a mop of black, messy hair, and brought it down to get a better look. "This is…" he trailed off, his voice hitching ever so slightly. "Shanks' hat..?"

Chopper couldn't hold himself any longer. "Luf—!" The sob choked him as he desperately rubbed at his eyes to clear his vision so that he could see the only human he loved more than the world itself. "Luffy!"

The stranger flinched and instantly whipped his head up, onyx eyes widening at the sight of the group. His round face was smeared with dirt and blood, but a small scar arching just under his left eye was clearly visible even through all the grime.

Not a shred of doubt was left in the hearts of the Straw Hats. They didn't know how it was possible, and they didn't really care. There was only a single thought spinning in their minds, soaring through their veins, and igniting their previously dimmed spirits.

Monkey D. Luffy was here, definitely breathing, undeniably _alive_. Against all odds, he came back to them.

They were no heroes. They were pirates and pirates were selfish and greedy and possessive of their treasure. For Straw Hats, there was nothing more precious than their captain.

Conviction roared through their blood, the promise, the _vow_ searing itself into their essence, their very existence. _No one_—be it the World Government, the other pirates, or the universe itself—was taking Luffy away from them again.

Never again.


	2. Chapter 2

I honestly didn't expect this story to get so much attention. The only other story that was so well received with only one chapter was 'For Better or For Worse', so that's telling a lot. Thank you everyone who read and especially those who left reviews/comments! I loved reading your guesses and theories on what's going on here and I hope this chapter won't disappoint you.

As always, please leave some feedback!

**Proofread by SarahPrincess and 9001668!**

* * *

**Never Again**

* * *

The staring match between the crew and their suddenly-alive captain didn't last long.

Luffy's face transitioned from shocked to frightened and then to unadulterated panic. The next moment, he was already hoisting himself up using the cross as support. He couldn't get a good hold of it though as his hands continuously slipped and his weakened legs seemed to refuse to fully carry his weight.

One didn't need to be a doctor to realize just how severely injured he was. He looked dead tired, thoroughly _exhausted_, even keeping himself upright seemed to cost him all of his remaining strength. It ran out rather quickly too. The moment Luffy managed to regain his footing, his knees buckled underneath him.

At that instant, all eight Straw Hat pirates surged forward in eagerness to help their captain and to steady him. To offer their unconditional support, to assure that they were never going to leave him alone and would follow him to the end of the world. Then maybe they would scold him for scaring them, reprimand him for threatening to leave them alone, admonish him for giving them false news of _dying_ before spoiling and pampering him as much as they wanted and he allowed.

Unsurprisingly, Sanji was the first one to reach the teen. His hand shot out to catch the falling body as his mouth opened to ask, "Are you alright, Lu—"

His Observation Haki screamed.

The blond reacted almost a fraction too late and the Haki-hardened fist passed a mere inch from his head. The wind pressure generated by the sheer force and speed of that punch left a shallow graze on his cheek. Out of reflex, Sanji backed off, shock and disbelief stealing the air out of his lungs.

The rest of the crew stopped behind him, no one able to truly believe what they had just witnessed.

Luffy had attacked Sanji?

The rebound of his own rubber limb snapping into place sent Luffy staggering. He found his footing by making a small jump back, landing clumsily into a crouch. Winding his arm around his stomach, he sucked in a breath that sounded suspiciously like a strangled groan of pain, and soon after blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth. Black eyes, however, never strayed from the group in front of him, and there was so much enmity and resentment bleeding into his glare that it sent shivers down their spines.

Usopp arms instinctively went up into a placating gesture as if pacifying a spooked animal. "Calm down Luffy, we can talk about this?" he spoke with hesitancy, scared to trigger an aggressive reaction.

"Luffy, don't you recognize us?!" Nami's voice tore from her throat, palpable desperation making her heart pound against her ribcage. "It's us!"

The teen wiped the blood from his mouth with a quick flick of his wrist, wincing when he accidentally brushed across the burned flesh around his neck, and then replied slowly, "I can see that." His voice was cold and harsh, biting in a way that the Straw Hats never knew their captain was capable of. "Though, there are some weirdos mixed in."

The uneasiness made Brook's blood run cold in his veins, despite his lack of both. "Luffy-san, what are you talking about?" he asked, carefully and genuinely baffled.

"You're scaring me, Luffy," Chopper sniffled, trying to gather his wits about him. His nakama needed medical attention and he needed it now! "You're injured! It's my duty to look after your injuries!"

Luffy's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Franky stood, arms angled uncertainly by his sides, the internal conflict being evident in his wavered stance. "That's not super at all, Luffy!" he called, his metal-laden arms remaining abnormally slack.

Robin remained silent in her observations. She noticed how his expression seemed to be saturated with intense mistrust, bitterness, and ever-present weariness. She felt as though she were looking into a broken mirror from the past—not quite the same, but not entirely different. Her face from her numbing, lonely, and dark past. Her face before she met her nakama, before they saved her. Her heart trembled at the implication.

Zoro didn't utter a word either. With a thunderous scowl, he observed Luffy, puzzling over his sudden hostile behavior towards them. His keen gaze didn't miss how the younger man subtly shifted his body to alleviate the burden from his left side and spine and registered a variety of alarmed twitches his muscles made at the crew's slightest movement. As if expecting a sneak attack or ambush and was ready to defend himself from all sides.

"Luffy, let's return to Sunny and talk it all out at the dinner table," Sanji suggested kindly, though precarious. He kept chewing on his cigarette, an unhealthy, nervous habit that reared its ugly head when he was especially agitated or concerned. "I'll cook as much meat as you like."

That appeared to be an absolutely wrong thing to say. Luffy's eyes narrowed dangerously, lips curling into a snarl, and he growled out, "What are you playing at, Vinsmoke?"

Sanji froze, every cell in his body going taut while his mind tried to comprehend the fact that Luffy _knew_. His jaw went slack for a brief second before tightening so hard that he accidentally bit his cigarette in two.

"Did you hit your head or something?" the rubber teen continued, not really paying attention to the blond's strange reaction. Or confusion of the others. "I don't know what you all are trying to accomplish here." He heaved his body slightly up as he spoke, swayed, but stubbornly maintained his posture by the sheer willpower alone. One hand gripped one of his knees while the other's knuckles touched the ground. "But I'm not staying to figure it out."

"No, Luffy!" the reindeer screamed, eyes blown wide in panic. The stance of the Second Gear was all too familiar for him and the crew. "Don't use it!" he pleaded. Luffy ignored his warnings and pumped his legs. Fear consumed Chopper, terror swelling inside his chest as he watched steam slowly began to rise out of the teen's suddenly pink-tinted skin. "You could—"

And then their captain vanished in a blur.

"—die!"

Chopper's high-pitched, anxious cry echoed into the distance. The Straw Hats stared dumbly at the empty spot, at a small eddy of dust such a high-speed movement swept up from the ground. It gradually settled down, blanketing the grass and soil. Now that they were looking at it, there were evident stains of fresh blood here and there, the red droplets shining brightly in the sunlight and penetrating their guilt-ridden consciences like knives.

The straw hat laid forgotten on the ground near the lonesome grave. Luffy hadn't taken it with him. He didn't seem to care about it at all. This disconnection with his prized possession was just another piece of the vexing puzzle.

Robin walked towards the cross and picked up the abandoned hat. Her movement jerked the crew out of their stunned stupor.

Usopp decided that to unravel this bizarre mystery, he had to start from something easier. "What do you mean by Luffy could die, Chopper?" he inquired as he turned to look at their extremely distraught doctor. "Sure, that technique puts a great strain on his body, but—"

"You don't understand!" the little Zoan user yelled on the verge of panic. "He's injured! I-I-I couldn't fully examine the extent of it, but from what I could see, it's serious! The last time Luffy sustained such damage was probably during his fight in Thriller Bark!"

That brought everyone's mind into a grinding halt, fear sinking into their guts like a chunk of ice, burning their insides with its extreme coldness.

The crew knew about Zoro's sacrifice on Thriller Bark. No one spoke about it, not all of them were even aware that the rest of them knew or how they got hold of that knowledge. The only one who definitely was left out of the loop was Luffy, every Straw Hats going out of their way to assure that it stayed that way.

Sure, they knew the real reason why their captain was so high-spirited in the aftermath of that battle, but they could also remember the state he had been before the new Warlord showed himself. The damage had been devastating. Luffy was hurt so badly and certainly pushed his body to its limits and beyond that. Far, far beyond that.

If the Straw Hats were worried sick back then, they were absolutely on the edge of panic right now.

Would they have to experience losing their rubbery idiot again when they just got him back?

"Okay…" Nami expelled all air out of her lungs in a single exhale. "Okay, okay, okay," she rambled, rubbing her forehead to ease the headache as her mind worked in overdrive to find an explanation to all of this mess. "Is it that why Luffy doesn't seem to remember us? Because he's hurt?"

"I—" Chopper paused, lips twitching down into a thoughtful frown. "I don't know. If he received head trauma… But he's rubber! He should be immune to blunt damage! And I didn't see any lacerations on his head!"

"There are ways to bypass the Devil Fruit powers. Like Haki," Sanji pointed out quietly. His lighter closed with a soft click after lighting a new cigarette and he quickly stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants before anyone noticed them shaking.

"But it's not true that Luffy-san doesn't remember us," Brook chimed in, his fingers curling around the handle of his cane so hard that his phalanges creaked. "Not entirely."

Franky nodded his buzz-cut head in agreement. "Yeah, he seemed to recognize some of us."

"But we don't really know why, do we?" Usopp asked, glancing around his nakama, waiting for someone to have a eureka moment and solve this problem. To his dismay, everyone appeared as confused as he was.

"I don't care if Luffy doesn't—" Chopper's throat cramped up, a new sob clawing its way up. He gulped it down and braved forward. "I don't care if Luffy doesn't remember me, I still want to help him!"

A gentle smile perched on Robin's lips as she uttered, "Of course, Chopper. We all feel the same." Then she pressed Luffy's straw hat into their youngest crewmember's hands for comfort and to help him anchor himself down.

Zoro stared at the forest where Luffy disappeared. His fingers brushed across all of his meito hilts, trailing the twists and turns of their wrappings, until he shifted them into a strong grip around Wado Ichimonji, bringing forth the familiar sense of confidence and stability; the feeling that was hard to grasp and kept slipping in and out of focus these past two years. Then he finally spoke, "We're going to find Luffy and fix this."

And where Robin's voice was soothing velvet that seemed to just caress everyone's hearts, Zoro's was firm and solid, causing their bodies to straighten and minds to concentrate. Those words didn't come from just the swordsman of the Straw Hat Pirates. Even if the title had never been used, the crew knew, at this moment, it was their First Mate speaking.

"We won't fail our Captain again," Zoro said, no, _commanded _as he looked into each of their eyes, glaring through them straight into their souls and hammering the _order—_for it couldn't have been taken as anything else—like a final nail in the coffin of their insecurities. "Never again."

The Captain of the Straw Hats was their guiding light first and foremost, but the First Mate's primary duty was to become a pillar of strength for the crew in the times of need.

Zoro watched, satisfied, as his seven nakama gathered themselves and their expression hardened with a resolve imprinting itself onto their features.

"Alright." Nami put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the crew. "We need to figure out the quickest way to find Luffy."

"We should split into teams," Franky suggested. "That way we can cover more ground."

"I crafted special smoke signals that we could use," Usopp said, digging through his satchel before pulling the intended gadgets with a victorious 'Aha!' "But I have only a couple with me, the rest is on the ship."

Chopper also finished browsing through his own inventory, Luffy's straw hat safely pulled on top of his own hat. "I need to go back to Sunny!" he exclaimed, slipping his backpack on. "I didn't bring the necessary supplies to treat… to treat such serious injuries."

"I'll accompany you," Robin volunteered. "We can retrieve Usopp's additional smoke signals at the same time."

"We should not forget that Luffy-san might not want to accept our help." Brook's straightforward and somewhat cruel albeit fair observation instantly put a damper on the group's steadily rising mood.

"Let's worry about it once we find him," Sanji proposed. As he glanced at Nami, he brightened up and his eyes filled with hearts. "Let's make the team of love, Nami-swan! Just the two of us! I swear to protect you with my life!"

The navigator pursed her lips. There was something innately off with the blond's sudden burst of flirtatious comments, but she couldn't quite put a finger on what was amiss.

"Cook," Zoro called and Sanji stiffened at his steely tone. "Why did Luffy address you as Vinsmoke?"

"Oh, yeah," Nami agreed. "I was wondering about that too."

Sanji's hands were in the white-knuckled fists inside his pockets. After a few abnormally long seconds, he averted his eyes, unable to endure the demanding gazes of his nakama suddenly fixated solely on him.

"We don't have time for this!" Chopper shrieked, beyond upset that they were all loitering around uselessly. "Luffy needs us!"

"Guuuuuys!"

Usopp's shrill scream inevitably made everyone to look at their sniper and see what got him all riled up. And then they saw it.

The sky was cracking again. But this time it wasn't just one crack, there were several of them, glowing with purplish-white light from within. Various sized fissures, rifts, and crevices spread over the whole expanse of the dome above the island, growing bigger with each passing second. Occasionally the cracks met, merging together, and the splitting accelerated in double the speed.

"Oh, shit."

Who exactly voiced this remark was irrelevant, because it perfectly summed the thoughts of all the Straw Hats at this moment.

Then, the sky exploded.

* * *

Zoro groaned in his position among the broken boughs of the bush where he was tossed by the blast of the sky shattering. Chopper got blown straight into his lap, so at least that kept the little reindeer safe.

"Oi, Chopper, you okay there?" the swordsman asked as he pulled himself up and cracked his stiff neck.

The doctor of the Straw Hats started to move, moaning and rubbing the abused parts of his body. "Yeah, everything still in place," he replied. "You?"

"I'm fine," Zoro grumbled out, already pushing himself to his feet.

After a quick once-over to make sure it was true, Chopper jumped down and immediately raced away to check on the others.

Zoro noticed Nami standing on the hill nearby, head lifted up as she watched the sky. If the deep lines of apprehension etched on her face were anything to go by, it seemed that they landed themselves into yet another mess.

He followed her gaze.

The sky was still there, fortunately, but now it had numerous streams of colorful light weaving across it from one side of the island to the other, the edges disappearing into the thick fog that surrounded the land from all directions.

Zoro stopped next to the navigator, his scowl matching hers in intensity. "How bad?"

Nami let out a soft 'hmm' as her expression sunk into itself even further. "I'm not sure," she replied in honesty. There was worry, annoyance, uncertainty, and many other emotions seeping into her response. "I watched those rocks appear out of thin air," she pointed towards the bay and the rock formation now being washed by the waves in its corner, not that far from the Thousand Sunny, "and there were trees that disappeared over there. And also…" The woman hesitated before taking a breath and pushing forward. "Luffy's grave also disapp—" She blinked at the wooden cross that continued standing tall despite the several assaults of cataclysmic winds. Nami growled, throwing her arms up, obviously frustrated. "What's going on?! It was gone a minute ago!"

Zoro said nothing, his sharp gaze scanning the objects his nakama just pointed out, willing to see something that the navigator might have overlooked and could help them to understand the current situation better.

"Doesn't that fog look familiar, Nami?" Robin's steady voice resounded from behind their backs and soon the archeologist joined the duo on a hill overlooking the bay.

"What do you mean?"

"The Rainbow Mist."

Nami's suddenly wide eyes darted to look at the mysterious fog again. "I need to examine it from up close," was her conclusion in the end, leaving her in a distressed rush of air. "I'm worried about Luffy, but we won't be able to help him if we don't know what's going on here and be prepared to deal with whatever this is."

"I still need to go to Sunny," Chopper piped in from beside the three pirates. "Everyone is okay, but Franky got stuck so others are trying to get him out," he reported dutifully.

"Alright, I'm going with you and Robin to Sunny. I want to take the waver to check out that rock formation and the fog. You," the navigator's finger pressed against Zoro's chest, "are coming with us." She peered at him through half-lidded eyes, daring to object. "We can't let you get yourself lost on the island while we know nothing about our situation."

"Wha—You—I'm not—!" the man sputtered in denial eliciting amused chuckles from Robin and Chopper. "Oi!" Nami, however, ignored him with grace. "You damn witch…"

There was a whoop of triumph followed by a booming 'Suuuuuper comeback!' from the spot where the other Straw Hats were preoccupied with untangling their cyborg from the position he got himself into.

"Usopp, Franky, Brook, and Sanji-kun will start with the search of our wayward Captain. You heard me, boys?" Three 'Aye!' and one delighted 'Aye, aye, Nami-swan~!" reached Nami's ears and she nodded. "Let's move then!"

* * *

Zoro was still grumbling his displeasure out even after Nami sped up away from the Thousand Sunny on the waver.

"I'm going to grab what I need!" Chopper exclaimed, already sprinting towards the stairs up.

"And I'll search for Usopp's smoke signals," Robin informed as she started walking to the aquarium bar door so that she could go through it and down to the workshops. "Don't get lost in the meantime, Zoro."

A throbbing vein popped on Zoro's forehead and he flared up like an agitated firecracker, "Who's getting lost?!"

The dark-haired woman laughed lightly. Suddenly, she spotted a few drops of red on the otherwise pristine green lawn and her body froze. "Wait!" she shouted, an obvious urgency layering her voice.

Zoro frowned and Chopper skidded to a halt two steps away from the stairs. Both turned to the archeologist, mutely demanding for an explanation.

Robin's eyes tracked the barely noticeable bloody and dirty trail from the railing to the boy's room, then across the lawn to the aquarium room, from there going around the tree with swings and up the stairs to the upper deck. "He's here," she whispered, sounding a bit breathless. "Luffy."

Chopper gasped and instantly shifted into his full-grown reindeer form, sniffing the air. And there it was—the scent he had yearned to smell for two excruciating long, lonely years. Despite it being sullied by the horrible stench of blood and burned rubber right now, it still was immensely comforting, intimately familiar.

Zoro also focused, spreading his Observation Haki to blanket the whole ship. And he found it. He was in motion even before he could confirm that this flicker of life was indeed his captain.

The free Straw Hats raced up the stairs, across the upper deck, around the galley, and through the door to the infirmary. The door slammed open with the force that almost left it embedded into the wall.

It startled the person inside. He jerked in surprise and the medicine bottle he held slipped through his fingers, shattering into dozens of small glass pieces. Spilled healing liquid quickly soaked into the wooden floorboards.

Luffy looked so vulnerable at this very moment, so hopeless, in a desperate need for the smallest act of kindness. Completely and utterly _defeated_.

The trio's hearts skipped a beat, the sight forever seared into the back of their eyelids. Somehow, it felt worse than the image of Luffy screaming and crying when his nakama were cruelly ripped away from him one by one. At least then he had someone to fight for.

Yet, this Luffy looked like he had absolutely no one. No one to fight for. No one to _live_ for.

The Straw Hats couldn't even begin to identify what they felt seeing their captain in such a state. Sadness? Anger? Grief? Terror? The need to rain their rightful wrath upon those who managed to put such expression on their Sun?

Probably all of it and more. Much, much more.

But in a blink of an eye, all those seemingly out of place emotions were wiped clean, tucked away where no one could see, replaced with an alert and cautious face. Luffy's eyes jotted around the room, lingered on the second exit for a bit, but then settled back on the three people. Observing, searching, judging.

With a poof, Chopper returned to his usual child-like form.

A tiny pinch between Luffy's eyebrows was the only reaction to his transformation. He took a small step back, however, when the little reindeer made one forward.

"Let me—let me help you, Luffy!" The pure anguish raised Chopper's already high-pitched voice by a few octaves higher. "Let me take care of your injuries!"

Few intense seconds ticked by in the deathly silence.

"Are you a doctor?"

Chopper felt like someone just poured a bucket of ice-cold water on him. Luffy's question, such a simple and harmless inquiry, was a glaring proof that he did not remember him. "Yes…" he mumbled around the ball in his throat that threatened to choke him. But Luffy needed him and he wasn't about to abandon him for such a pathetic reason. "Yes," he said louder, scrubbing at his face to not let tears fall. "Yes! I'm the doctor!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'm the doctor of the Straw Hat Pirates!"

The guarded, calculating stare from his captain had almost crushed Chopper. He was fidgeting, he knew that, practically vibrating with the urge to start the treatment.

And his perseverance was rewarded with a tired, "Fine."

The little doctor went through his cabinets and drawers like a hurricane. Within a brief period Luffy took to walk from the desk to the bed on the other side of the infirmary, he already had a mountain of all the necessary supplies dumped on the bed.

"No pills," the teen said with a finality that left no room for disapproval as he saw the little Zoan user fiddling with the pill bottle. "Also just basic treatment."

"Wha… But, Luffy!" Chopper let out a whine of distress. He was upset, rightfully so. If he disagreed, his idiot captain might just run away again. But the basics were galaxies away from enough to treat all of his injuries! His brain soon turned to a mental soup of conflicting instructions.

"_We won't fail out Captain again. Never again."_

In that case, his basic medical care would have to become equal to other doctor's full treatment. Chopper almost slapped himself. It was such a simple solution. "Okay. Now sit."

A ghost of a smile passed the rubber teen's lips. As swiftly as it appeared, it vanished, safely hidden behind the mask of neutrality. He seemed relatively at ease around the young doctor, but the same couldn't be said about the presence of the other two pirates. He continuously kept his eyes on them, his vigilance never wavering. Not even then he briefly turned his back at them as he sat on the bed, an action done obviously on purpose.

There was a wound sliced into his flesh, going from his left shoulder to the small of his back. Some parts were blackened and crusted with charcoal, the edges of the tattered red vest charred as if burnt by an open fire.

Zoro clenched his teeth, silver eye turning into an ocean of smoldering rage. He was a master swordsman, so he could tell with a single glance that this particular cut was done by a sword with intent to cause as much pain as possible. Not deep enough to instantly kill a person, but big enough to let him gradually lose strength and eventually bleed out.

Not to mention, it was located on his _back_, the area that no self-respecting swordsmen with honor and pride in their bladed partners should have ever attacked deliberately.

Chopper started to work on Luffy's extensive amount of cuts, bruises, and burns, while the man himself scrutinized the other two people's reaction. Robin showed no outward feelings, perfect poker face firmly in place, but the swordsman's left him noticeably baffled.

"Did you… did you try to cauterize this?" the reindeer asked, hands trembling as he carefully poured a medicine on the gash to disinfect it.

"I got kicked into the burning tree," Luffy replied, unconcerned as though he was talking about the weather. "So it stopped the bleeding, huh. How lucky."

Zoro shuffled to the desk, feeling the rubber teen's wary gaze boring into him all the way there, and leaned against it, one hand resting loosely on his katana and the other gripping the edge of the desk.

Now that Chopper could examine it from up close, he could see that the burn around Luffy's throat had a distinctive form of two palms. Almost like someone attempted to strangle him while their hands were on fire. The reindeer didn't dare to ask directly and so decided to seek an explanation in a roundabout way. "Did you get these neck burns from the same tree?" he prodded carefully.

However, the soft and tight, "No," was all he got this time.

The silence that followed threatened to suffocate them.

This time it was Luffy who decided to break it. "Why are you called Straw Hat Pirates?"

"Our Captain used to wear the straw hat that Chopper is safeguarding at the moment," Robin replied. She smiled kindly when the teen glanced at her. "It was his greatest treasure."

"Used to?"

"He was killed."

"And you think I'm him?"

That made Robin pause. Luffy replied without a change in tone, yet capable of sounding so skeptical. This paranoid, hardened, weary variation of her captain fell out of her comprehension level. She couldn't get a good read on him at all, his ability to conceal his true emotions rivaled hers.

That notion alone threw Robin off balance.

None of the archeologist's inner misgivings were displayed outwards. Her friendly smile didn't falter in the slightest either. "You do look alike," she pointed out, testing what his reply would be to that.

"Dead people don't come back."

He was riling them up, Robin realized with sudden clarity. Taunting them, baiting, trying to get a rise out of them, so that they revealed their true colors. That plan had one big drawback—they would have had some kind of ulterior motive. They didn't. Unless their wish to take care of the person they all loved so unconditionally was worthy to call it like that.

Zoro's mind was stuck on a completely different matter. Something was nagging at him, whispering to his instincts, but the moment he tried to grasp it, it slithered out of his reach. There was a blazing desire to know, so he asked, "Who gave you that wound?"

Luffy's attention snapped back at him. The tension in the room reached new heights, the stillness fraught with all the unasked and unanswered questions.

Luffy smirked. Just a tiny twist of his lips as if he knew something while they were still fumbling in the dark. "It was done by the Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro."

The swordsman lost the grip on the desk for a single, heart-stopping second before tightening it again.

"Zoro would never do that!"

"It's funny that the _Pirate_ Hunter would try to kill me," Luffy continued, ignoring Chopper's little defensive outburst, those familiar and yet somehow different features awash with uncharacteristic vicious amusement. "Because I never officially became a pirate."

Zoro's hold on the desk grew stronger, his other hand unconsciously squeezing Wado's hilt. "What is your dream?" His voice was coarse, thick with unnamed emotions.

Luffy blinked. That obviously wasn't a question he had expected.

But as he continued to stare at the swordsman, slowly, steadily, his whole demeanor began to shift. Something—force, spirit, sheer power—stirred, flickered into existence, quickly overflowing and choking the air in the room. Commanding and unyielding. Like a steel, nay, a colossal titanium wall that Zoro had no hope to ever be able to cut.

_This _was the presence of the true Conqueror. The presence of the future Pirate Kin—

"I don't have one."

And all of it was gone in a flash, visibly suppressed, reeled in, and caged inside the moment those words hit the air.

There was a sharp crack sound as the desk gave way under Zoro's grasp.


End file.
